Written Answers Wednesday 16 August 2006

Scottish Executive

Dentistry

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Independent): To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS dental patients were registered in each of the last five years.

Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is provided in the following table.

  Total Number of Patients Registered with an NHS General Dental Practitioner, at 31 March

  

 Year
 Number of Registrations


 2002
 2,694,348


 2003
 2,684,787


 2004
 2,651,704


 2005
 2,627,339


 2006
 2,585,316



  Source: MIDAS (Management Information & Dental Accounting System).

Health

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average life expectancy was in (a) 1994 and (b) 2004, broken down by (i) local authority and (ii) NHS board area, and what projected average life expectancies are in each area in (1) 2024, (2) 2034 and (3) 2044.

George Lyon: Life expectancy figures are normally calculated for a three year period, to provide large enough numbers to ensure accuracy.

  Information on life expectancy at birth for the period 1993-95 is available from the Office for National Statistics website through the following link: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=8841&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=272.

  Information for the period 2002-04 is available from the General Register Office for Scotland website through the following link: http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/library/life-expectancy/le2002-04.html.

  Projected life expectancy figures are not currently available for local authority and NHS board areas because it is difficult to produce reliable projections for such relatively small populations.

Health

Mark Ballard (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding was given to community health projects in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board area.

Mark Ballard (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how it scrutinises the amount of funding given to community health projects in each NHS board area, given the contribution of such projects to improving public health.

Mark Ballard (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how it evaluates the success of, and value for money delivered by, community health projects in each NHS board area, given the contribution of such projects to improving public health.

Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is not held centrally.

  NHS boards have the freedom to allocate resources to best meet the health needs of their populations, whilst at the same time working towards national health improvement targets. The allocation of funding to community health projects is a matter entirely for those bodies which provide the funding, namely NHS boards, local authorities and other community partners.

  Annual Reviews are held with each NHS board where their performance is scrutinised in public. Boards are expected to report progress against health improvement strategies, targets and measures at these meetings.

Homelessness

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people not in education, employment or training were homeless in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Nicol Stephen: This information is not held centrally.

Housing

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have protocols in place with housing associations in their areas.

Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  Communities Scotland collects information on protocols between local authorities and registered social landlords (RSLs) in relation to the referral of homeless households for permanent accommodation in accordance with section 5 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001. We do not collect information on any other type of protocol between local authorities and RSLs.

  As at 31 March 2006 the following local authorities have final or draft section 5 protocols with all RSLs operating in their area.

  

 Fife
 Orkney Islands


 Highland
 Shetland Islands


 Moray
 



  As at 31 March 2006 the following local authorities have final or draft section 5 protocols with some, but not all RSLs, operating in their area.

  

 Aberdeen City
 Aberdeenshire
 Angus


 Argyll and Bute
 City of Edinburgh
 City of Glasgow


 Clackmannanshire
 Dumfries and Galloway
 Dundee City


 East Ayrshire
 East Dunbartonshire
 East Lothian


 East Renfrewshire
 Falkirk
 Inverclyde


 Midlothian
 North Ayrshire
 North Lanarkshire


 Perth and Kinross
 Renfrewshire
 Scottish Borders


 South Ayrshire
 South Lanarkshire
 Stirling


 West Dunbartonshire
 Western Isles
 West Lothian

Housing

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider establishing arms-length management organisations (ALMO) for local authorities whose tenants have voted against large-scale voluntary housing transfer.

Malcolm Chisholm: There is already provision in the law which enables councils to set up bodies such as Arms Length Management Companies. Section 20 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 2003 gives wide powers to local authorities to create or enter into arrangements with other persons or companies if that is likely to promote or improve well-being. Creating an ALMO would not, however, qualify the council for Treasury funding to redeem residual housing debt which is available to councils that transfer ownership of their housing to a Registered Social Landlord.

  The consent of the Scottish ministers is required under section 92(5) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 should a local authority wish to provide assistance, including financial assistance, to a person or company managing housing and that assistance is carried to the debit of their housing revenue account.

Housing

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what commitment it makes to the partial transfer of local authority housing stock.

Malcolm Chisholm: We believe that in certain circumstances partial transfer may be an appropriate option for some councils as part of a strategy to meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard for all of their stock. Details of the support available for partial transfers is set out in the guidance on local authority housing transfers which is published on the Communities Scotland website. The key criteria governing the acceptance of a partial transfer proposal on to the Community Ownership Programme are that the council must have a viable and acceptable Standard Delivery Plan for the stock which it plans to retain and that the business plan support that is offered for partial transfers will not exceed the support that would have been given if the council had undertaken a whole stock transfer.

Nutrition

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it sets national standards on nutrition to be adhered to by hospitals and, if not, whether it has any plans to do so.

Mr Andy Kerr: In September 2003, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS) published standards on food, fluid and nutritional care in hospitals. It is available at: www.nhshealthquality.org/nhsqis/files/Food,%20Fluid%20Nutrition.pdf .

  Three of these standards have been reviewed by NHS QIS and their report, which was published on 10 September 2006, can be found at: http://www.nhshealthquality.org/nhsqis/files/FFNCH_NOV_AUG06.pdf

  This report shows that the standards are making a difference. There has been a culture change within the NHS since the standards were first published. They are groundbreaking and the first of their kind in the UK. However, implementation has been slow and there is still a lack of coordination. It is important that the standards are now implemented more effectively.

Renewable Energy

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many planning applications it has received for hydro schemes under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 from (a) public limited companies and (b) private companies and other bodies since 1999.

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many planning applications for hydro schemes under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 from (a) public limited companies and (b) private companies and other bodies since 1999 (i) have been refused and (ii) are still to be determined.

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7804 by Lewis Macdonald on 11 May 2004, how many consents for hydro schemes under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 it has granted to (a) public limited companies and (b) private companies and other bodies since 1999.

Allan Wilson: Twenty applications for consent under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 have been received since 1999, in respect of hydro schemes. Of these, 15 were made by public limited companies and five by private companies or others.

  The details of all section 36 hydro applications received since 1999 are outlined in the following table.

  

 
 Plc
 Private/Others
 Total


 Applications received
 15
 5
 20


 Refused
 0
 1
 1


 Withdrawn
 1
 2
 3


 Consented
 9
 0
 9


 To be determined
 5
 2
 7

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Internet Services

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Independent): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it has considered any plans for introducing wi-fi to the parliamentary complex, similar to that being introduced in the Welsh senedd building and, if so, what conclusions were reached.

Kenny MacAskill: Whilst most areas of the Holyrood building are well served by IT cabling, it is recognised that wireless networking, or wi-fi, can sometimes offer a more flexible method of delivering networked services.

  The SPCB has already introduced wireless networking capability in the Holyrood building. After a risk assessment was undertaken, wireless networking was installed in the Education Centre where it has been successfully used to deliver services since November 2004. The technology was deployed because it offered the best solution to address the business requirements.

  Additionally, the Business Information Technology Office is currently looking at the feasibility of enhancing the mobile phone coverage in the Holyrood building. One of the solutions being considered offers the option to install wireless hotspots which could be used by visitors to the Parliament.